Tradespeople should turn to teaching when they get too old for manual labour, MPs heard today.
If workers in their fifties changed career and became teachers it could help alleviate the teacher recruitment crisis, the Commonseducation committee heard.
It comes after new figures revealed the Department for Education missed its targets for recruiting people to teacher training coursesby 50 per cent for secondary schools this year.
The persistent failure to hit targets for recruiting specialist teachers means children are increasingly being taught science, technology engineering and maths (STEM) subjects by non-specialist teachers.
Speaking at the education select committee, Conservative MP Nick Fletcher said: “Regarding the over fifties there are an awful lot of tradespeople out there who have an awful lot to offer. They are very clever people, they just use their hands…and there’s an awful lot of them.
“Obviously because it’s such a hard physical job when they get to their fifties they are getting tired basically, and I think if we get those into teaching it would be a wonderful thing.”
When it was pointed out that teaching is also “quite tiring”, Mr Fletcher said: “Teaching is a different type of work though, it’s not climbing ladders, knocking walls down, literally laying heavy cables or whatever it is, it’s a different type of tiring.”
He added: “There is an awful lot we can pass on…it would be great to get as many fifty-plus people, men and women, back into teaching. It would be an amazing thing to do.”
Schools Minister Damian Hinds was quizzed by MPs at the final session of the education committee’s inquiry into teacherrecruitment, training and retention.
Committee chair Robin Walker asked him if he agrees teacher recruitment and retention “remains at crisis” level.
Mr Hinds said “We have clearly got a lot of work to do.”
He added: “I don’t underestimate the scale of what we need to do, it’s incredibly important work. The leverage effect our teaching profession has on everything else in our society should never be underestimated.”
MPs heard that increasing the amount of flexibility teachers have in their jobs could make the profession more attractive.
Sue Lovelock, Director of Teaching Workforce, said four in ten teachers now report having some form of flexible working available.
But Mr Walker said some new teachers have experienced a culture shock when entering the profession because of how inflexible it was compared to other jobs.
Mr Hinds said there is sometimes “cultural resistance” to flexible working for teachers, but added: “I don’t agree with that.” He said flexible working for teachers has increased but “we need to be able to go further.”
